Fighting Back
by Little Dark Dynamite
Summary: Just when everything seems to finally be going right for Melinda, something terrible happens to her. Can her friends help her fight back? Recommended to read The Truth and All I Know first. Last story in my Speak trilogy!
1. Unexpected

** What's up, everyone?**

**I know it's been a while, but I'm finally out of my rut. I just wrote this a couple hours ago. This will be a multi-chapter story like All I Know. It will be my final Speak fanfic. Not that I'm completely sick of Speak. I still love it and it will always be one of my favorite books. I just feel like I need to move on, you know?**

**Anyway here's the first chapter. Enjoy.**

**Fighting Back **

**A Speak Fanfic**

**Melinda POV **

"Which posters do you want?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Don't know. Surprise me." I turn my back to her.

"Okay," Rachel agreed. She was grinning. Unless I heard her wrong, she sounded... mischievous. Not good.

Rachel and I became best friends again after she apologized for everything she did to me freshman year. We're even getting closer with Nicole and Ivy again, which makes me happy.

Happiness. It's a weird, foreign feeling to me. Something I haven't felt in what seems like forever. But it's comforting.

Rachel and I have been redecorating my room for a few months. We're finally gonna finish it today. I love my new room. All the pink has been washed out by a sea-foam green. At first I wanted to paint everything black, but Mom said no, saying that it should be a "bright, happy color." Rachel, of course, agreed with this. Sea-foam green was my second choice, but as long as my room didn't look like Hello Kitty threw up all over it, I'm okay.

Rachel rummaged through the box of posters she bought and brought over here. "Okay. How about-" Dramatic pause. I stifle a laugh.

"-THIS!"

I turn. My eyes turn into tea saucers.

"N-O."

"Oh come on! He's awesome!"

"Rach, I don't like him!"

"But he is smokin' hot!"

"Rach," I state in my serious voice. "I am **not** putting Justin Bieber in my room."

"Fiinnnee." Rach whined, sticking her tongue out at me. She dug through the box and pulled out another poster. "Robert Pattinson?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not into Twilight."

"How can you not like Twilight, but you're, like, obsessed with Muse?"

"I liked Muse before Twilight," I snorted, picking up my iPod from my desk, changing the song to "Starlight." The opening riff poured out from the speakers. Rachel raised her eyebrows. I shrugged. "Since you mentioned them."

Rach laughed. "It's okay. I like this one. So romantic. Oh, by the way, I found a poster that I know you'll love."

"It better not be Taylor Lautner."

"It's a piece of art. Artwork. Whatever."

"Which one?"

She lifted it up. I gasp.

"Van Gogh!" I run over and snatch the poster from Rachel.

"Mel, jeez, it's just a copy..."

"But, Rach, it's Starry Night! It's one of my all-time favorite paintings. Put it next to my bed. So I can look at it when I go to sleep."

"Isn't the window better?"

"Rach."

"Okay," she laughed. She took back the poster and walked over to the wall, taking four tacks off of the desk. "It's gonna be easier to find posters for you now that I know what you want." _Push. Push. Push. Push. _"Maybe," Rach continued, "you should hang your artwork up..." She sits down and turns on the laptop Mom and Dad bought me for my 16th birthday. "...While I check my Facebook page."

"Good idea."

I go to the corner of the room where all my paintings lay. I pick up two pictures: one watercolor painting of a liquid amber tree, the other a cubist painting of my old room. I carefully pick up a few tacks and push them into the wall. I hang the tree first, then the cubist painting. I stand back a few feet. The cubist painting looks like it's too far away.

"Oh my god."

"What?" I turn around.

"Oh my god."

"What?" I walk over and stop, standing next to her. "Rach, you're-" I gasp.

It was me.

Not really me, but there was my picture, my address, Merryweather High School was listed...

Rach clicked on the info page. It was even worse. All this horrible perverted stuff appeared in front of me. I skimmed through the interests section, where porn websites showed up.

Someone was pretending to be me.

I bite my lip really hard. "Mel." Rachel. "Mel, are you okay?"

I can't hold it in anymore. I burst into tears.

**Yikes. Major drama. Anyway, how am I doing? Review? Plus, I don't really like the title I picked. Tell me if you have any better ideas for a title. **

**And I know this is a little off-topic, but have you ever heard of Tegan and Sara? They're awesome. I listened to a few of their songs while writing this. And, of course, "Starlight" by Muse. **

**~LDD**


	2. Comfort

**Here we go with Chapter 2!**

**Rachel POV**

This can not be happening.

"Come here," I say, hugging Melinda. She cried even harder. While she cried, anger surged through me. Why would somebody do this? Who would do this? Mel was asking the same thing.

"Rach, aren't you listening?" she choked out.

"Sorry," I apologized. "I spaced out. Well, not really, just-"

"Deep in thought?"

"Yeah."

"It's okay, I guess." She wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. That little action instantly brought me back to when she told me she was raped in the library at school last year. "I was asking you if you had any idea who could have done it."

"That's what I was thinking about. And I hate to say this," I warned her. "But I think it was Andy."

Mel's already red eyes widened as she remembered Andy. The former most popular guy at school, total jock, my first love, my now ex-boyfriend, her rapist. "Andy. B-But he swore he would leave me alone. He said that in court!"

"Maybe he meant he'd leave you alone in a physical way. Like no stalking or something."

Mel bit her lip.

"He might think he can get away with torturing you mentally," I continued. "Emotionally."

"He succeeded." Mel paused. "But, what if it's not Andy? It could be someone else."

"Could be. But I can't think of anyone that would. And if it is someone else, then we're totally fu-"

"Oh no, why are we crying?"

Both Mel and I turn to see Mrs. Sordino in the doorway. I'm happy to see her, since I know she'll think of a way to fix this. But I'm also worried that she's here for two reasons. One, she might not know what to do. And two, she might of heard me almost drop an F-bomb.

"What happened?" Mrs. Sordino asked, running over (in heels!) to where Mel and I were sitting. Mel didn't answer. She just started crying again. Mrs. Sordino sat on the bed next to her.

"Somebody made a fake Facebook page of Melinda pretending to be her," I explained.

"What?"

"Here, I'll show you." I pointed towards the desk, where Mrs. Sordino sat down and began scrolling down the page. I put my arm around Mel, trying my best to comfort her. I guess it worked; she stopped crying, but still sniffed every once in a while. After a couple of minutes, Mrs. Sordino turned back to me and Mel.

"Okay, I reported the page to Facebook. I'm going to see if I can get the police to investigate this. I'm sure something like this would be considered some type of harassment. Melinda, don't worry. Everything will be fine. We'll find this guy, then make sure he doesn't bother you again."

Melinda nodded. A small, sad smile appeared across her face. "Thanks Mom." She got up from the bed and hugged her.

"Rachel," Mrs. Sordino whispered to me after she finished hugging Melinda. "Can I talk to you?"

I nodded. "Mel, maybe you should hang up the rest of your artwork," I say to Mel.

"Okay," Mel says, walking over to the corner of the room. While she was picking out what painting to hang next, Mrs. Sordino and I silently left the room.

"I didn't do it, Mrs. Sordino," I blurted out immediately.

"Don't worry, Rachel, I know you didn't. And you don't have to call me Mrs. Sordino all the time. Just Mrs. S is fine."

Cool. Looks like I won back the approval of her parents. Took long enough. "Okay, then, Mrs. S."

"I just wanted to ask if you had any idea who did this? Any suspects?"

"Just Andy Evans."

Mrs. S nodded slowly. I guess her worst fear of having her daughter's rapist return was confirmed. "I thought so, too. Well, thank you Rachel, for all your help."

"No problem, Mrs. S."

"Just keep trying to cheer Melinda up."

"Oh, don't worry, I already have an idea to cheer her up. But I have to ask you something."

"What?"

"Is it okay with you if I invite a friend over?"

After Mrs. S gave me the okay, I dug out my cell phone and started to text as fast as I can.

_911! Come 2 Mel's house ASAP!_

**So, who do you think Rachel texted to get help? You'll find out soon... Oh, and review! **

**~LDD**


	3. Everything Will Be Fine

**Hey! I know it's been a while since I updated. I've actually been working on a couple other fanfic ideas. But anyway here's Chapter Three.**

**Dave POV**

_911! Come 2 Mel's house ASAP! _

As I waited outside, I paced. Usually stuff like this didn't happen.

Unless...

An image of Andy Evans appeared in my mind.

I clenched my fists. This better not be about him, or else...

My silent rant was quickly interrupted by Melinda's mom.

"Hi, Dave," she greeted. She looked a little bummed.

"Hey, Mrs. S," I greeted back. "Uh, I got a text message from Rachel. Did something happen to Melinda?"

"Why don't you come on in?" Mrs. S said, inviting me in. I nodded and entered the house. Mrs. S led me to Mel's room.

"Mrs. S?" I asked as we were walking. "It's not Andy, is it?"

Mrs. S frowned. "Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Melinda and Rachel will tell you," she continued. We stopped at Mel's room. Mrs. S smiled sadly. "Talk to you later." She walked away, leaving me alone at Mel's door.

Now that was unusual. Mrs. S was usually pretty nice and happy whenever I came over. Here she was just... sad.

Frowning, I knocked on the door. I expected Mel to slowly open the door and smile at me as usual, whether she was happy or not.

I did not expect the door to fly open. And have Rachel standing in it.

"Hey, glad you made it," she said.

"I thought you left already."

"And I thought the Tooth Fairy was real. Shit happens."

Oh great. Looked like Rachel was in a bad mood, too. Which, as I learned from hanging out with her, Mel, Ivy, and Nicole, is never a good thing. "Can you please tell what's going on?"

She paused. "In a minute." She pulled me into the room and shut the door behind her.

"Whoa, the new room looks- Mel?"

I stared at her. Her eyes were red. She must have been crying. I ran over to her and hugged her.

"Hey," Mel said softly. She broke away from me, but she still held my hand. "What are you doing here?"

"Rachel texted me, she said it was an emergency," I explained. "What happened?"

Mel looked at Rachel. Rachel shrugged. "I thought he might cheer you up." Mel slowly nodded, then turned back to me. "Well," she began. "Someone, um-" She bit her lip.

I let go of her hand, putting both hands on her shoulders. "Mel, it's okay. Just spit it out."

"Someone made a Facebook page pretending to be me. And well..." she trailed off.

I gaped. "Are you serious?" I dropped my hands off her shoulders.

"Go look." Mel motioned to her laptop. "It's pretty bad."

I walked over and plopped down in front of the desk. I started scrolling down the page, getting angrier by the second.

"Unbelievable," I mutter under my breath. "Effing unbelievable. Your mom called the police, right?" I didn't look away from the screen.

"Yeah," Mel answered. "She's sure it can be a harassment charge."

"It is. Cyberbullying is definitely a form of harassment," I reported.

"But how long is it gonna take for the police to figure out who did it? And how do you know this stuff?" Rachel cut in.

"Mock Trial team, remember?" I paused. I thought about Rachel's other question for a minute. "A couple weeks, I guess?"

"Weeks?" Mel gasped, her eyes widening.

"WEEKS?" Rachel screeched. "Nuh-uh. That's way too long."

"Well, they have to question the guy, get his hard drive..." I listed.

"But we already know who it is!"

I finally turned from the computer to face Rachel. "You do?"

"Yes!" Rachel insisted.

"Not really," added Mel. "We just think we know who did it."

"Well, I can't think of anyone else, so..." Rachel defended.

"Hold on," I interrupted. "Who do you think did it?"

"Andy." Mel stated.

_Oh no... _

I stood up. "Evans?"

"No, Andy from Toy Story," Rachel snapped. "Of course Andy Evans!"

"Rach, shut up," Mel scolded.

I ignored Rachel's sarcasm. I was too pissed off. "That jerk," I growled. "I should go beat him up!"

"Whoa!" Rachel gasped, stunned.

"Dave," Mel began. "Don't."

"Why not? He deserves it!"

"We don't know for sure that he did it. Plus, I know how strong he is. He could really hurt you." Mel quickly hugged me, then pulled away. "But I think it's really sweet of you to offer to do that. Even if it's a stupid thing to do."

I grinned. "I guess you're right."

"Whoa," Rachel repeated. Mel and I turned to face her. Rachel just shrugged. "What? I just never expected that from him. I expected him to threaten to get his lawyer."

I rolled my eyes. "Really?"

"Well, you could, just like last year..."

"Guys," Mel interrupted. "Can we just focus on how we're gonna fix this?" She looked even more worried.

"Don't worry, Mel," Rachel assured. "I already got Ivy and Nicole on the case, too."

"Everything's gonna be fine, Mel," I soothed. I wrapped my arms around her and rested my forehead on hers. "I'll make sure of it."

Mel smiled. "Thanks." She then whispered, just loud enough that only I could hear, "I love you."

"I love you too." I gently placed my lips on hers. She started kissing back.

Rachel cleared her throat. "You guys know I'm still here, right?"

Mel and I reluctantly broke apart. "Sorry," we both blurted out. We looked at each other and laughed.

Rachel sighed. "I need a boyfriend."

**So, what do you think? That was my first time writing a little bit of romance into one of my fics. Review! And maybe click the little box in blue, too? **

**~LDD**


	4. My Goal

**Okay, I know this chapter may seem a little short to you, but I purposely made it that way. You'll see why. Anyway, Chapter 4!**

**Bad Guy POV (BOOOO!)**

I scrolled down my Facebook profile. I had just typed in for my status, "Very happy." I finally found the link and clicked. Melinda Sordino's fan page popped up.

I smiled at my handiwork. 22 "Likes." Looks like people are enjoying it.

I had to admit, I did feel a little guilty about making the page. Who wouldn't? But then I remembered what Melinda did to me. How she betrayed me. How she ruined my life. And now I'm all as a result.

I felt more anger flow through me. I clicked on the "Status" box. After about thirty seconds, wondering what to type in, I started typing.

_"Sooo BORED. Wondering what to do... ;)."_

I clicked "Post," and smiled again. The satisfaction appeared instantly, washing away and replacing the guilt. But I knew it would only be a matter of time before the guilt comes roaring back.

_I guess I'll have to post something again when that time comes, _I thought, planning the next stage of my plan. I grin.

She ruined my life, then I'll ruin hers. And so far, it looked like it was working.

**I know, very short. But you understand why I had to make it short, right? Review, please? **

**~LDD**


	5. Ten Minutes

**Here we go...**

**Nicole POV**

"Ten minutes," I said.

"Yay," Melinda cheered sarcastically.

Rachel's head rose up from her desk. She yawned, and said, "Sorry. I didn't catch that."

"Ten minutes 'til class starts," I snorted. "Jeez, Rach, wake up already."

It was ten minutes before first period, the only class I have with Melinda, Rachel, and Ivy, who was for some reason, not here yet. None of us had any classes with Dave, since he was in all Honors classes.

It had also been two days after the discovery of the fake Facebook page, so people at school knew about it, and gossiped about it. Rachel, Ivy, Dave and I made sure at least one of us was around Melinda at all times, to make sure nobody made fun of her behind her back. Mel, of course, was against this, saying she didn't need "a bunch of mini bodyguards," but gave up when we insisted.

"Noooo," Rachel whined. "I stayed up too late last night. I was investigating."

I perked up. "Yeah? Did you find anything?"

"Nope," Rachel replied, making her hand into the shape of a zero. "Turns out Andy doesn't even have a Facebook."

"But even if he doesn't have a Facebook page, he can still make one, right?"

"Hey, I wasn't finished!"

"Well, you stopped!"

"To see your reactions!"

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. "Rach, why does that matter?"

"Rach. Nic." Melinda piped up, staring at each of us. We understood. No bickering. At least, not right now.

"Sorry. Go ahead." I grumbled.

"Now," Rachel began. "Andy doesn't have a Facebook. But I did write a comment on Melinda's-" she made air quotes with her fingers. "-page, I wrote a comment saying it wasn't you."

"And?" Melinda asked. "And people wanted to know the whole story, so I explained the situation to them. And they said they'll spread the word."

Oh great.

"Really?" Melinda said, surprised.

"Really?" I asked skeptically.

"Yeah. People love a mystery! I bet we can get more info quicker!"

"But, Rach." I sighed. "The plan was to keep this on the DL 'til we know for sure it's Andy. You know, the down low?"

"Rach..." Melinda sighed.

Rachel's eyes widened, then she sighed and slapped her forehead. "Son of a bitch."

"You forgot?" I hissed.

"How could you forget? You're the one that said, 'Hey, let's keep this a secret!'" Mel hissed at Rachel.

"I was tired! Damn it, me and my big mouth! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Rachel buried her head in her arms on her desk. I heard a muffled yell.

"Rach, if we weren't here, I would strangle you!" I growled.

Rachel lifted her head. "Please don't. You're too athletic, you can actually kill me."

"You-" I choked out.

"Come on, guys, violence is not the answer. No matter what. Even if Rachel screws up like usual."

"Oh hey, Ivy," Rachel greeted. She paused, remembering what Ivy just said. "HEY!"

Ivy smiled. "Love the delayed reaction there, Rach."

Rachel replied with a muffled "Shut up!"

"I guess you heard?" Mel asked.

"Yeah." Ivy sat in the desk next to Mel. She pulled her hair out of her ponytail and ran her fingers through it. "And since the secret is out," she continued, glaring at Rachel, "I told all my other friends that it was true. They're going to tell me anything they find out."

"Okay, that's cool," I said.

"Well then, we need to figure out what to do next at lunch," Mel said. "But one of us will have text Rach about it."

"Why?" Ivy asked.

"Oh, I have to pick up something from my house," Rach answered. "Really important." For some reason, I had a weird feeling that she was lying.

"Right," Mel said. "so after lunch, we'll-" She stopped.

"What?" I asked.

Mel subtly pointed towards the group of girls behind her. They were staring and whispering.

"Oh good. The Marthas." I snorted. Ivy groaned, while Rachel hissed, "What do they want?"

Mel shot us a warning look, then turned back to the Marthas, who had stopped whispering when Mel saw them.

"Hi. Um, why you were staring at me?"

"Oh we were just talking about how someone made a Facebook page about you," Meg started.

"Yeah?" Mel's face was hesitant. She knew what these girls were really like.

"But we find it hard to believe," Emily added.

"What?" Mel sighed. She was losing her patience with them. Whatever patience she had left with them in the first place.

"That a freak like you wouldn't be into porn," Siobhan answered. A sickly sweet smile was plastered across her face.

Mel glared at her. Ivy glared at all the Marthas.

Rachel growled, "Look, bitch, you better watch it."

I reached down and opened up my sports bag. I noticed some of the other students gathered around us, seeing our fight. "You know, Siobhan, you're forgetting something extremely important."

"What?" Siobhan asked, turning her glare onto me.

"That you are in the presence of a girl with a tennis racket. I whipped out my tennis racket and played with the strings.

Siobhan frowned. Emily's jaw dropped. Meg gasped. No one stood up to the Marthas. Unless you wanted your social life to die. "You wouldn't," Meg threatened.

I only grinned back, using the same smile Siobhan used on Mel. Ivy and Rachel smiled, also using the same smile.

Mel turned to us. "Guys, I can handle this."

"Yeah," Emily chimed in. "Let the freak handle it."

Melinda let out a long, exaggerated gasp."Good job, guys!" she cheered. Sarcasm was dripping in her voice. "I'm a freak, like you said, and you're a bunch of preppy social climbers!"

All three Marthas' jaws dropped. The whole room burst into laughter, except the substitute teacher. She was completely oblivious to the whole catfight. She shouted, "Settle down!"

The bell rang. The Marthas huffed, then stormed to their seats. Mel waved to them, then sat back down.

"Nice, Mel!" I cheered. "Though, I'm a little bummed I didn't use my racket." Mel giggled.

Rachel gave her a high five. "Can you believe how intense that was?" Rachel asked.

"Please. Can you believe that class is just now starting?" Ivy whispered.

"Yeah to both," I agreed. It _was_ intense. And who knew so much can happen in so little time?** Review? ~LDD**


	6. New Suspect?

**Sorry for the wait. I know, it's been a while.**

**Ivy POV **

If I could describe the next periods after that eventful first period, it would be boring.

When the bell rang, signaling the beginning of lunch, I leaped up from my seat and speed-walked out the door, eager to escape from world history. At least for the rest of the day.

I walked to my locker, which was in the same hallway as my world history class. I opened it, letting the locker door fly open and hit the locker next to it. I piled my books into my locker, since I had already finished most of my homework for that night. I was gathering my art supplies when I heard three voices.

"I _still _can't believe what that freak said to us," Siobhan whined.

I moved my locker door so that it hid my face. _This ought to be good_, I thought.

"I know! Last year, she was, like, mute. Since when has she stood up for herself like that?" Through the locker door's vents, I saw Meg's made-up face turn into a pout. I stifled a giggle. _Babies_.

"Whatever," Emily said, waving a hand in dismissal. "We'll get her later for it."

That didn't sound good. At all. Were the Marthas behind this?

"No," Siobhan disagreed. "We can't let a girl like Melinda Sordino get to us."

"Yeah," Emily agreed reluctantly. Meg nodded.

"Besides," Siobhan continued. "We can't pick on her. I mean, she was raped."

"Oh yeah!" Meg added. "And by Andy Evans!"

The Marthas showing sympathy? _That was new_, I thought. _In fact, I __think I just gained a little respect for them._

Siobhan nodded. "Exactly. I don't want to get in trouble. And imagine what us picking on her would do to our reputation!"

"Ruined!" Emily exclaimed.

"Exactly!" Siobhan said.

_Okay, I take that back._

"So we-" Siobhan stopped, then squealed. "Heather!" Meg and Emily grin and echo Siobhan's squeal.

_No fucking way... _

"Heather! How was homeschool?" Meg asked.

"Ugh, boring! I'm so glad to be back! So do you really forgive me after last year?" Heather asked.

"Of course! Now let's go eat, I am starving!" Siobhan exclaimed. The Marthas and Heather turned and strutted down the hallway, laughing, then disappeared around the corner.

I shut my locker. Heather. Heather Billings had returned. She never moved; she was just being homeschooled.

Which meant...

"New suspect." I said out loud. I turned on my heel and sprinted in the other direction.

**Movie Voiceover Guy: Is Heather behind this? What's Rachel _really _up to? Will the problem finally be solved? And most important: can the author update any faster? **

**Me: Dude. **

**MVG: Sorry. (leaves) **

**Me: (sigh) Review?**


	7. Confrontation

**Here we go...**

**Rachel ****POV **

I pulled my car over on the side of the street. I breathed in and out, trying not to hyperventilate or hurl or have a total mental breakdown. I forced myself to look at the house directly across the street where I was parked.

Andy's house.

I couldn't believe that my friends had fallen for the story about me going home to pick up something. I felt guilty about lying to them like that, but I knew that if I told them where I was really going, they wouldn't have let me go. I sighed. My breathing was uneven. This breathing exercise I heard on TV is a total lie. I wasn't calming down at all. I placed my hand on the door, my fingers curling around the- around the- Oh my god. I'm so freaked out, I can't remember the name of the thing that opens the door.

My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, which made me jump. I took it out. It was a text message-from Dave, of all people.

_"Hey, where are you? We're supposed to meet at lunch with Mel, Nicole, and Ivy."_

I shook my head. Why is he always so formal? I typed back a reply and hit "Send."

_"I had 2 go somewhere." _

It was about a minute before Dave replied back.

_"Oh yeah, Mel told me you had to pick something up from your house. But I didn't think it take this long. Don't you live five minutes away from school?"_

Crap. I guess I have to finally spill the beans.

_"DO NOT TELL ANYONE. I'm at Andy's house." _

A minute slowly passed by. My cell phone vibrated again, only this time, it was a phone call.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Are you freaking insane?"

"Dave, come on."

"I'm serious. Get out of there! It's dangerous!"

"Says the guy who wanted to beat him up."

"Ha ha. But Rachel... Okay, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't to see you get hurt."

That surprised me.

"It's only because I think of you as a good friend. And if you get hurt, Mel would be..."

"You're finally considering me as a friend?"

Dave and I haven't exactly had a functional friendship. Mel had told him everything that went on last year, including what I did to her. So at first he didn't trust me and was even a little protective of Mel. I don't blame him, though. I was pretty bitchy to Mel. We bickered often, and we later became more like frenemies instead of allies.

"Well, yeah."

"Thanks, Dave."

"I still want you to get out of there."

"Nope. I'm still going."

"Why?"

"It's our last chance. Andy's too stubborn to cooperate with the police. Not again. He'll listen to me."

Dave sighed. "Fine, but if something happens, I will say 'I told you so.'"

"Okay."

"And I'm telling Mel. Since this is about her."

"Okay. Can I go now?"

"Yeah. Good luck."

"Thanks." I hung up.

I opened the car door and got out. I ran across the street. I walked up to his door and rang the doorbell. The door opened. He was there.

"Rachelle Bruin?" he asked in disbelief.

"Rachel. And I wanted to ask you something."

He smiled. "Oh, are you here to ask me out?"

_Idiot._

"No, you dumbass. Like I would ask my best friend's rapist out."

"How is Sordino? She finally get a boyfriend?"

"That is none of your business. _She _is none of your business." I seethed. Andy backed away. I kept edging towards him, until both of us were inside.

"Wait, what are you-?"

"Leave my best friend alone and take off the damn Facebook page!"

"Wait, wait, hold up," Andy said, holding his hands up. "What Facebook page?"

"You know! The page you made pretending to be Melinda to make her look like a pervert!"

"Wait, you think I created the page?"

"Why do you think I'm here?" I screamed.

"I didn't make the page. I didn't know anything about it until now."

"Yeah, right."

"Look, I swore I would leave that girl alone, and I have!" He looked at me straight in the eye. When we were dating, I would look at him in the eye to make sure whatever he was saying to me was true. That's when I knew.

"You... you really didn't do it."

"Told ya." He snorted.

"Well," I said, still recovering. "I guess I'll go."

"So soon? I mean, you just came here. We can, you know, catch up on old times." He leaned forward, trying to kiss me.

My hand flew across his face.

He stumbled back, his hand on his cheek, while I ran out. I kept running until I reached my car. I flung the door opened, started the car, and drove away as fast I could. I looked back. He didn't chase after me like I expected him to. He let me go. I turned around and focused on the road, not even bothering to look back.

**Ugh, I hate Andy... Such a jerk. But I have to admit, I love writing as Rachel. Anyway, please review! **

**~LDD**


	8. Figuring It Out

**Here we go...**

**Melinda POV**

I think I might have a mental breakdown. Right here at the quad.

"She. Went. to. His. House." I seethed, breathing in between each word.

"Yeah." Dave confirmed.

"And you didn't stop her?" I asked. Anger was filling me up like a hot air balloon.

"Obviously not." Smart mouth.

Nicole clicked her tongue. "You should have stopped her." she was playing with her tennis racket again, swinging it and twirling it in her hand. I think she's still disappointed that she didn't use it on Siobhan.

"Mel. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't..." Dave sounded like a little boy denying that he didn't steal any cookies from the cookie jar.

"Then why did you let her go? She could get hurt."

Dave paused for a minute. I waited. He knew I was getting mad at him. At Rachel. Then he spoke in a softer voice.

"That's what I was worried about. But I let her go because it might be our only chance of finding out if Andy really did it or not. Rachel knew he wouldn't cooperate with the police again if they asked him. I let her go to help you."

"Really?" I smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

"Hey, hey, hey, none of that! I'm eating here!"

"Sorry, Nic. Forgot you were there," I said, pulling away. Dave grinned, amused by Nicole's reaction. Nicole shook her head. "I know I need a boyfriend. You two don't need to give me any reminders! By the way, you guys know where Ivy is? We only have twenty minutes left. I mean, she's usually here by now."

"Maybe she went to her locker," I said.

"Yeah," Dave agreed. "It is on the other side of the school, right? And then she has to walk all the way to the cafeteria to get lunch..."

"But she usually brings her own lunch," I remembered.

"Maybe she decided to get hot lunch today," Dave suggested.

"Not likely."

"Well, hey, maybe she-"

Rachel plopped down onto the ground, sitting in between me and Nicole. I stared at her in disbelief. Rachel took a deep breath. "Can I just say that today was probably the scariest day of my life?"

"Idiot." I shook my head.

"I guess you told her," Rachel assumed. Dave nodded.

Nicole snorted at Rachel's response. "I guess you're used to us calling you an idiot."

Rachel shrugged. "I admit, it's growing on me."

"I can't believe you," I exclaimed. "This _has _to be the dumbest thing you've ever done. You could have gotten hurt!" I sounded like Mom. It scared me a little.

"Mel..."

"Rach, I'm serious. I warned you about Andy so many times and-"

"He didn't do it, Mel."

"What?" Dave and Nicole each let out their own "What?"

"Andy didn't do it. I know whether he's telling the truth or not."

"How?" asked Nicole.

"He was my boyfriend. I know him."

"So?"

"So I know when he's lying. And he wasn't lying."

I sat there, confused. Andy didn't do it? Was he telling me the truth that day in court. Was he finally leaving me alone? "But," I spoke. "If it's not Andy, then who-?"

Ivy ran up and collapsed on the ground, panting. When we all looked at her quizzically, she panted out, "I ran here all the way from my locker."

"Your locker's on the other side of the school." Rachel said.

"I know."

"God. You must be totally wiped, you know, since you suck at sports," Nicole smirked.

Ivy glared. "Thanks for the reminder. Now give me some water." She pointed at the water bottle lying on the ground next to Nicole.

Nicole reached for the bottle. "What's the magic word?"

"Nic," I scolded.

"I'm dying," Ivy replied, gritting her teeth. Rachel, Dave and I laughed.

Nicole smirked again. "Actually it's 'please,' but since you're my best friend..." She tossed Ivy the bottle. Ivy caught it, muttered a quick 'thanks,' and gulped down half of the water in the bottle.

"Anyway," Ivy said when she was finished. "I was at my locker and I saw Heather."

"Heather?" I asked.

"No way," Nicole said.

"Didn't she move to Ohio?" Dave asked.

"No. She was just being homeschooled. Probably embarrassed over her crappy prom decorations last year."

Oh yeah. Everyone complained about them. _Everyone._

"Ha! So she did and not Andy!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Wait, Andy didn't do it?" asked Ivy.

"I guess we should go report it to the school," I said.

"Wait, Mel, you need to tell your parents, too, if you're still going to sue," Dave reminded me.

"Hold on..." Ivy said.

"Let's go before lunch ends!" Nicole said, grabbing her stuff. The rest of us grabbed our stuff and got up.

"I am _so _confused," Ivy said.

"I'll explain on the way," Rachel assured.

We started walking towards the office. Before we went in, after Nicole, Ivy and Rachel went in, Dave gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. Encouraging me. I grew more confident with each step as we marched towards Principal Principal's office.

**Review, please! ~LDD**


	9. Busted

**Another short chapter... But we are getting close to the end of the story.**

**Also, is it too late to make a disclaimer? Just for the people who haven't figured it out yet? Okay, well, then... Disclaimer: I do not own Speak. Or Laurie Halse Anderson's mind (Unfortunately.) Just the words and the plot.**

**Okay, here we go...**

**Heather POV **

Oh god, fifth period was _so _horrible. I had Gym and I got hit in the head by a volleyball again, and I tripped while we were running for warm-up. Sixth period- biology- was _much_ better, but then again, it is my _best_ subject. But we were doing work out of the textbook, which is _always_ boring.

It was silent in the classroom. I hated silence. Anything that had to do with silence, really. Study hall, tests, silent people with psychological problems... It reminded me of Melinda Sordino, who was my friend, but I stopped hanging out with her because she just wasn't my type of friend. I don't want to hang out with a depressed person all day who was always there for me and then betrays me...

I shook these thoughts out of my head and tried to focus on the differences between mitosis and meiosis. The phone rang. Mrs. Jones, the teacher, picked up the phone. She spoke quietly into for a few seconds, then she hung up and looked up at me, since I was sitting in the front row.

"Heather, the principal wants to see you."

Whispers and giggles broke out. I closed my textbook and grabbed my purse, getting up from my seat.

As I left the classroom, I saw Rachel Bruin wave at me, a smile plastered across her face. Weird.

**Yep. Short. I think I'm going to take back what I said on Chapter 4. _This_ is the shortest chapter I've ever written. Please review! ~LDD**


	10. Aftermath

**Here we go, the final chapter of Fighting Back.**

**Melinda POV**

I stood in front of Principal Principal's door. He wanted to see me, so my geometry teacher excused me ten minutes early. I hesitantly knocked on the door. "Come in." I opened the door then let it close behind me.

"Ah, Melinda, please sit down." Principal Principal motioned towards the chair in front of his desk. I sat down and looked at the nametag on his desk. Principal Smith. He cleared his throat. "I'd like to apologize for what happened to you. I know you've been through a lot in the past year or so." He paused, expecting me to say something.

"It's fine, Principal Smith. Really."

He nodded. " I already called your mother and told her everything. Including the fact that Heather confessed to creating the page."

So Heather _did _do it. What a snot.

"I thought she did," I said, which was kind of the truth. "Is she going to be expelled?"

"In a way," Principal Smith answered. "I planned to suspend her. I won't tell you how long, that's for privacy reasons. But I also called her mother and she said she would be taking Heather out of public school permanently."

Permanently. Heather will be completely out of my life. The thought thrilled me. "Okay. That's good, because I don't really think I can stand her anymore."

Principal Smith nodded sympathetically. "I understand. Mrs. Billings told me this wasn't the first time Heather has done this. She did this to a girl back at her old school."

So that's why she moved here from Ohio. I tried to picture Heather as a bully. I couldn't.

"Again, Melinda I'm very sorry this happened to you. Now you do have any questions?"

"Yes. Am I the only one?"

"Actually, no. Cyberbullying is quite an issue in schools these days. Not just here, but all over the country. I'm sure you've seen some stories in the news like this."

I thought about that. I did remember one story about a girl who hung herself when she was being cyberbullied all the time. She was only around my age. "Yeah, I remember seeing a story about cyberbullying. She committed suicide because of it."

"Exactly." The bell rang. "Well, Melinda, you better go now."

I got up. "Okay. And thanks, Principal Smith. For everything.

A couple minutes later, everyone met me at the quad.

"So Heather did it." Dave stated.

"Yeah."

"Knew it!" exclaimed Rachel.

"No you didn't," Dave argued.

"Shut up."

"Nice rebuttal."

"You're a rebuttal."

"Worst comeback ever."

"Shut up!"

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

"Sorry."

"Sorry. So what's Heather's punishment?" asked Rachel.

"Well, she was going to get suspended, but her mom's going to homeschool her again."

"Serves her right," Nicole said.

"So now what?" Ivy asked.

"Well, I don't know, but we should do something to help prevent cyberbullying."

"That's a great idea, Mel," said Dave.

"Yeah," I said. "Maybe we should-"

"Excuse me."

I turned around. "Heather."

"Oh," Rachel said. "I can't believe you have the nerve to-" Nicole punched her in the arm. She winced.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry."

"I don't think you are."

She didn't seem to hear me. As usual. "And please don't sue! I can't be sued! I have to try to get into Harvard so I can be a nurse-"

"You mean UC Davis." Dave corrected.

"Ugh, whatever! Just don't sue! I mean, I don't think you can sue. Can you sue?" She was freaking out. I tried really hard to not have a laughing fit in front of her.

"Actually she can, since cyberbullying is against the law in every state." Dave said.

"Says who?"

"Says our government."

Heather's mouth dropped open into a little "O."

"Poned," Ivy commented.

Go Dave!

"Look, Heather," I began. "You really hurt me. Twice in two years. First pretending to be my friend then ditching me, now this. And I'm not going to put up with it anymore. For real, this time."

Heather opened her mouth to say something, but I held up my hand.

"No. the way you tried to get revenge on me for not helping you that one day... It's just shows me how pathetic you really are as a person."

Heather just stood there, stunned. Now she was the one speechless.

"Heather, I hope you have a nice life, and I'll see you in court."

Heather stood there for a few seconds more, then marched away from me, from my friends. Out of the school. Out of my life.

I turned to my friends. It was Rachel who broke the silence a few seconds later.

"Bad-ass," she drawled the word.

Dave walked over and hugged me. "Way to go," he whispered in my ear.

I grinned. "Thanks," I whispered back.

Ivy cheered. Nicole slapped me a high five, which hurt a little bit, but I was too happy to care.

"Come on, let's get out of here. Maybe go to my house?" I suggested. Everyone agreed. Rachel quickly texted my mom saying we were taking Rachel's car to my house, then we started walking to Rachel's car, which was parked across the street.

"Hey, Mel."

"What, Nic?"

"How did you learn to stand up for yourself like that?"

"Yeah," Ivy said. "You have to be really brave to do that, right?"

Dave turned to me and smiled. His arm went around me. I smiled back at him. "It's not too hard," I said as we got into the car. "All you have to do is speak up."

**The End **

**THANK YOUs... **

**Thank you to all the people who read this story, and to the people who reviewed. **

**Marie King- Wow, you have supported me all the way through this fanfic, which has been the most challenging to write. I think you reviewed every chapter and you favorited, so huge thanks to you. **

**wacholder- Thank you for your review and giving me some tips on how to inprove my writing. And telling me the rules of fanfiction. If you're reading this, I would love to see you write a Speak fanfic. **

**Tegan and Sara- Okay. I know this is a little ridiculous, because why would I thank a Canadian alternative-rock duo who might not even know this website exists in my fanfic? Their album, So Jealous, has been mood music for me to write this. So thank you for existing. You're my new obsession. **

**Again, this is my last Speak fanfic, and I wanted to end with a bang, so thank you for reading, and I hoped you enjoyed this fanfic. (You can check out my other stuff to if you want.) **

**~Little Dark Dynamite**


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